Help Me Please - I am experiencing a lot of different headaches
On January 14th 2016 I woke up (after just recovering from a bad flu) with a dull ache type headache. I was assured that it was just the flu, but after I had this headache for over a month people began to get concerned. I had many MRI's, CT scans, Blood tests but everything was normal. However, between May and August I started to get these terrible headaches that would last about 40 minutes and it was the worst pain I have ever experienced. I had to start missing school because I was getting them every day, I'm pretty sure people thought that this was my crazy way of getting attention because nobody could find a cause... Even I began to think that I had gone off my rocker. I have experienced a lot of side symptoms as well like nausea, dizziness and double vision. Every time I went to see a doctor they told me the same thing: "it's a tension headache, get some therapy" or "you need to sleep more" or "you just have bad migraine. Though, I am able to tell when it's a migraine and when it's that pain, but the main question is: What is the cause for the pain I get in my head every single day?
-I have no olfactory bulbs
-I have not bumped my head in a long long time
- I am 13 years old
-I am currently on 0.5mg pizotifen to help me through the night (it's a lie dosage because it's not supposed to be given to under 18's)
These are very typical symptoms for someone with chronic migraines. There are many times of migraines, someone with chromic migraines experiences migraines on a regular basis. Based on your age, there is a very good chance you will grow out of it, if you start having migraines long before puberty (such as myself, starting at age 2) it isn't likely that you would grow out of it. However, I have met many people who started having migraines during their pubescent years and they all grew out of it by their early 20's. Migraines that start at the same time of day are most often tension headaches, but there are many types that also tend to start around the same time of day. When I was 13, my migraines went from two times a week to 5 times a week with constant headaches, I am 18 now and usually I only have about 2 migraines a week. Sleep and dietary factors are important to keep tract of, there could be something different you started doing without realizing that is causing it, or even something you have done regularly (as the body changes, different things affect it differently). Research on migraines is often open ended and there is no definite cause for migraines, especially as each type of migraine can have a different cause, the most common theory is over active nerves in the brain causing sensory overload. That doesn't mean it is the cause for you, it is just the most common theory. Hormonal changes also affect it, so if you are like me, they could be more frequent during and around my time of the month. I have founded medicating with either ibuprofen (advil) or naproxen (aleve) works best if taken only when needed (too often will cause dependency); acetaminophen (tylenol) and aspirin have been shown to cause relapse headaches (not in everyone, just most). Ginger has been shown to help if used regularly, with minimal affects (plus it has many good vitamins in it). If your migraines are consistently 40 minutes, I would suggest going to the nurses office for that time and then returning to class (maybe bring an eye cover and ear plugs if it is noisy and you can't turn off the lights). In the end, you are not crazy, you might not ever find the cause, but you can find ways to not let it interfere with your life any more that it has to.
